Multi-billionaire Richard White’s early career was famously rock n roll as a guitar technician for AC/DC, but over the past month his life story has become more Shakespearean, with a sprinkling of Streisand effect, that’s taken the WiseTech Global founder from the business section to front pages amid lurid details of his personal life. It… Read more »
Athena Home Loans is now worth $310 million after REA Group (ASX:REA) unveiled plans to spend $62 million on a 19.9% stake in the fintech. The deal is being funded from the REA’s existing cash reserves and real estate giant will take two seats on Athena’s board. REA already has an existing relationship with the… Read more »
Vinyl Group’s (ASX: VNL) ongoing acquisitions appetite has added former Sydney startup Serenade to its stable in a conditional deal that represents a major haircut for investors in the NFT music marketplace. Serenade founder and CEO Max Shand will become a Vinyl Group employee, in charge of meeting a range of sales targets in the… Read more »
HUB24 (ASX: HUB) has ponied up with startup Reach Reach Alternative Investments with a strategic investment for a minority stake. The teams of the deal were not disclosed, but earlier this year Reach had been on the hunt for $3 million at a $15m valuation. The three-year-old Sydney fintech previously raised $2.2 million in a… Read more »
Startup advisory and investment business Scalare Partners is back in the hunt for $8 million to list on the ASX, after the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) lifted its interim stop orders on the prospectus for a reverse takeover of confectionery maker Candy Club Holdings (ASX: CLB). Last week the corporate regulator intervened today… Read more »
The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has intervened on plans for a back door ASX listing by tech accelerator and investor Scalare Partners, concerned that the proposal doesn’t comply with disclosure laws. Scalare announced back in May that it would go public in a reverse takeover of confectionery maker Candy Club Holdings (ASX: CLB).… Read more »
ASX-listed conversation insights platform Dubber (ASX:DUB) is hoping to put a horror six months behind it with the appointment of a new CEO, Matthew Bellizia, replacing former boss Steve McGovern, who was sacked in April amid an ongoing investigation into $26.6 million in missing company funds. Bellizia takes the helm today, having spent 21 years… Read more »
Brisbane battery company Redflow has been placed in voluntary administration and its shares suspended from trade just weeks after unveiling plans for a 5 MWh project with Queensland’s energy generators, Stanwell Corporation. Richard Hughes and David Orr from Deloitte were appointed voluntary administrators of Redflow and three subsidiaries by its board on Friday, not long… Read more »
Shares in logistics software company WiseTech Global are on a fresh tear today, setting new records following the company’s FY2024 annual results on Wednesday. Founder and CEO Richard White is already a billionaire thanks to the success of Sydney-based WiseTech, which the former AC/DC guitar technician launched in 1994 by writing code for Australian freight… Read more »
ASX-listed defence tech scaleup DroneShield has made hay while its shares shine, raising $120 million from institutional and sophisticated investors at $1.15 a share. Shares in the Sydney-headquartered US tech business (ASX: DRO) have been on tear over the last seven months, climbing from $0.31 cents in mid-December 2023, the $1 April and then a… Read more »
Three years ago amid the BNPL goldrush, fintech Limepay was hoping to list on the ASX. It wasn’t to be for the white label buy-now-pay-later platform, founded in 2016, which billed itself as Australia’s first enterprise payments fintech. But Limepay, which rebranded in 2022 as April Solutions, will become a listed company after being swallowed… Read more »
Shares in ASX-listed tech scaleup DroneShield have plunged for a second day in a row, falling another 20% to $1.61 by Wednesday lunchtime, following a 22% plummet on Tuesday amid a halt in trade. DroneShield (ASX: DRO) shares have been on tear over the last seven months, climbing from $0.31 cents in mid-December 2023, to… Read more »
Expect to hear a lot more about Airtasker on the Kyle & Jackie O show in 2025 after the casual jobs marketplace inked a $5 million investment deal with radio company ARN Media (ASX: A1N). It’s the second such investment by a media brand in the last fortnight, with Airtasker (ASX: ART) signing a similar… Read more »
Online retailer Booktopia has been placed in voluntary administration less than four years after listing on the ASX. Shares in the Booktopia Group (ASX:BKG) had been suspended since mid-June after admitting the business had liquidity issues and sought funding for redundancies and working capital. McGrathNicol restructuring partners Keith Crawford, Matthew Caddy, and Damien Pasfield were… Read more »
The board of ASX-listed Dubber has fired cofounder Steve McGovern as CEO over $26.6 million in missing company funds. In a statement to the ASX late on Tuesday night, the company said they terminated McGovern’s employment yesterday after investigations over the last five weeks into the missing cash alleged that “McGovern and the trustee were… Read more »
Daily startup news and insights, delivered to your inbox.
